Armoy looks towards a shared future

The Shared Neighbourhood Programme, which is funded by the International Fund for Ireland and the Department for Social Development and managed by the Housing Executive, works with existing communities.

With Thursday’s announcement that a further 14 communities have committed to the Programme, its initial aim of developing 30 shared neighbourhoods over a three year period has been achieved.

The news means that over 60,000 people in Northern Ireland now live in a shared neighbourhood.

The 14 areas were announced at a special event in Belfast which also highlighted the findings of an independent external evaluation of the Shared Neighbourhood Programme’s first phase.

The external evaluation found that the Shared Neighbourhood Programme is just one of the many possible responses to the issue of segregated housing but it is perhaps the response with the most potential to make the most difference. The evaluation also praised the Programme’s community led nature and its success in driving forward partnerships between social housing estates, within those estates and between communities and statutory agencies.

The success of the Programme’s community development approach to community relations was felt to provide immense benefits promoting self-sufficiency and a movement away from a dependence on grant income.

More importantly, the Shared Neighbourhood Programme was credited as providing a practical means for communities to move from just co-existence towards real integration.

Participation in the Shared Neighbourhood Programme will provide access to grants to celebrate diversity and bring together people, from all backgrounds, who live in these areas.

Participants also benefit from community relations training, community consultations and support to design their own Neighbourhood Charter and deliver their own Good Relations Programme. Practical on the ground support is also provided by the Housing Executive through a dedicated team of Cohesion Advisers.